


Persona 5 Adult Confidant AU

by SilverFlame27



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Adult Confidant AU, Alternate Universe, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-05-15 07:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14785982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFlame27/pseuds/SilverFlame27
Summary: A fan fiction based off ScruffyTurtles's (scruffyturtles.tumblr.com) Adult Confidant AU. The idea is it's the Persona 5 story but all the characters' roles are switched. In this, Sojiro is the protagonist, while the other adult confidants in the game, like Iwai and Kawakami, are the Phantom Thieves.





	1. Set the Stage

"So, tell me. Do you want emancipation?" A voice calls out, soft spoken, yet with a bit of firmness as well. "Do you wish to break free from the chains of society. Do you wish for justice? Then you must conquer this twisted game you've found yourself in. But, first, you must wake up."

"Wake up"

"Wake up"

"I said wake up!," an angry voice calls out. Water splashes against the young man's face. The water is cold, and thrown at the man's face harshly, with little concern for him.

The young man wakes up instantly. He panics, his eyes darting around the room. The room is small, dark gray walls give the room a dreadful aura. Only one door on the wall opposite of the young man. He tries to get up. He feels tightness around his hands. He's been handcuffed. He looks up to the figure that is yelling at him. He is a tall, muscular man, with an angry face to match his tone. He is wearing a black suit. Behind him are two other men similarly dressed. 

"Do you know where you are?" The angry man asks. "You're in an interrogation room because your dumb-ass," he grabs the young man's head by his hair, and sharply throws it toward the ground, "got caught." The man stands up and takes a few steps back to the center of the room. "Uncuff him and read him his charges."

 One of the other men standing in the back comes up and unlocks the young man's handcuffs. The young man rubs his wrists. They are sore from the handcuffs. He clearly wasn't taken in with care. As the man walks back with the handcuffs the other man steps forward. He pulls out a clipboard and starts reading from a page. "You are charged with obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons, and manslaughter."

The angry man looks back at the young man. "That's some pretty serious charges against you. All that for someone so young too. So, let's ask the million-yen question. Who are you? What's your name?" The young man stares at him quietly. "Oh, I suppose you didn't hear me." He walks up to the young man, still lying down on the ground, barely holding his front body up. The man lifts his leg and kicks the young man hard in the face. "What's your name? I'm not going to ask a third time."

The young man picks himself up off the ground. He wipes the blood off his face and spits out some blood in his mouth from the kick. He looks up at the man and after a short moment of hesitation the young man says, "Sojiro...Sakura".

"See. Was that so hard? Now we've got some other questions for you." The man starts to say more, but the door behind him opens suddenly. Another man walks into the room. 

"Sir! The chief is here. She said she wants to speak with the suspect."

"Tsk. Already!?" The angry man rubs the back of his head. His angry face gives way slightly to a more annoyed, almost concerned expression. "Sit him up."

The other two men grab Sojiro by his arms and drag him to the nearby table, pushing him into the chair. The two men walk to the door leaving the room and exit. The angry man follows behind them giving one last look back to Sojiro before finally leaving the room himself.

A few seconds after everyone leaves the room, a new figure enters. She is a tall woman with short brown hair, and a small braid over the back. She is wearing a suit. Unlike the previous men's suits, hers was a dark blue, with shoulder pieces, and police ribbons. She seems to be a decorated police officer. She takes a look at the beaten and bruised Sojiro. "What did they do to you?" She pulls out the chair on the opposing side of the table from Sojiro and sits down. "Do you know who I am? I am Police Commissioner Makoto Nijima. I'm here to ask you some questions."

Her voice echoes. It alternates between sounding far then near. Sojiro tries to focus on the sound of her voice. "Nijima...-san."

Makoto leans in. "I need you to tell me everything. Who are the Phantom Thieves? How many of you are there? How do you steal people's hearts?" Sojiro bobs and catches himself before he hits the table. Makoto snaps her fingers together. "Stay with me. I can help you but I need answers."

Sojiro looks up at her. "That's...a very long story"

Makoto looks him dead in the eyes. "Tell me everything."

Sojiro nods. "We have to start...at the beginning."    

 


	2. Welcome to LeBlanc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sojiro arrives at his new home for the year. Unfortunately, it nothing like what he expected.

“We will be arriving at Shibuya Station in ten minutes” rang out a voice over the loudspeaker. 

Sojiro looked up. He had been on the train for almost two hours. He sat up with anticipation at the thought of finally getting off the train. The other passengers did not look so glad. This was probably a normal day’s occurrence for them; living in the city the trains were one of the few reliable methods of transportation. Sojiro, however, was not from the city. He wasn’t used to such long rides. His whole body ached from being still for so long. 

Sojiro heard the screech of the wheels as the train stopped. The passengers quickly began exiting the train. Sojiro got up and got grabbed his bag. Everything he owned worth taking fit tightly into a moderately sized duffel bag. Sojiro flung the bag over his shoulders and exited the train. Before he was even out of the train, people were already trying to enter for the next trip. The rumors of the crowded city trains were not unfounded. 

After Sojiro was out of the train and far enough from the crowds, he took out his phone. He opened up his messages to re-read the text he had: Café LeBlanc, with an address linked. Sojiro wondered if that was a mistake. He was supposed to meet the woman who was going to be taking him in. Why would she want to meet him at a café instead of the house? 

Sojiro was completely lost with the large, complicated train station. After ten minutes of walking around, going in circles, and asking various workers for directions, he finally managed to find his way towards the address. 

The way to the café was impressive, Sojiro thought. The large Shibuya crossing he’d seen pictures of seemed even larger up close. The massive buildings sprawled out for miles. After more than half an hour of walking, Sojiro finally arrived in Yongen-Jaya, the district where the café was supposed to be. 

Sojiro walked through the alley his phone had led him to. Small shops lined the alley way. They were on average no larger than a large bedroom. Sojiro passed what looked like a pawn shop, with items so old looking and unrelated to each other that it appeared like a glorified garage sale. Sojiro passed what appeared to be a small medical clinic, based on the sign outside. Sojiro questioned the legitimacy of any doctor who operated in a crowded alley-way. 

Finally, Sojiro arrived at his destination. The café was tucked away in a side way down the alley. Nice plants decorated the exterior of the café. A small chalkboard sign stood up outside with several items and their price. Down the bottom of the sign was written: free wi-fi. 

Sojiro stepped into the café. A bell rang as he opened the door. The interior felt relaxing. The lights were dimmed enough that it felt comfortable. The furniture seemed worn, but not old, more like it was vintage. Jars full of various coffee beans filled the shelf behind the counter. 

There was a woman in front of the counter, facing the tv on the wall. She turned as she heard the bell. She had long orange hair tied up into a bun. She was wearing a large pair of glasses over her eyes, which were heavy with bags. She was wearing a long green t-shirt with an apron and baggy pants. She had a pair of headphones around her neck. “Hey welcome,” she gestured towards Sojiro. “what can I do for...oh! It's you.” A look of sudden realization dawned on her face. “I didn’t realize you were going to be here so early.” 

Sojiro looked at the clock on the wall. It was 2:17 in the afternoon. “Are you...Futaba Isshiki?” 

“Yeah. That’s me.” Futaba started walking towards Sojiro. “Sorry I didn’t meet you at the train station. I don’t like going there. Too many people. I was going to come pick you up in my car but,” Futaba looked up at the clock. Seeing the time, she seemed to understand the situation better. “I guess I lost track of time.” 

“It’s...ok. Don’t worry about it. I’m Sojiro Sakura. Thanks for...taking me in. I guess.” Sojiro wasn’t quite sure how to talk to Futaba. His initial thought was that she seemed a bit strange. 

“You guess? You better be pretty sure that you’re thankful. I’m taking a huge risk here, taking you in after what you did. Assault is a serious thing. When your parents asked me to take you in, I thought they were crazy.” Futaba looked at Sojiro with concern. Sojiro was getting tired of people looking at him like that. 

“Sorry for being such a nuisance.” he said, with a faint hint of anger in his words. Sojiro had been arrested for assault. The situation that had happened was very complicated. Sojiro tried to explain to everyone what had happened, but no one seemed to believe him. It was his first offense, and he was still a minor, so he was put on probation. His parents decided it might be a good idea to give him a change in scenery. He had been sent away to finish his last year of high school far from home. 

Futaba’s look softened a bit as she stared into Sojiro’s eyes. “Look. I promised your parents I’d take care of you, so I will. But, you have to follow the rules. First: if you’re going to be living here you have to do whatever I say. Second: you’re on probation, so you need to behave yourself. I’m taking a chance on you. If you get in trouble you’re going straight to prison, and I’m not covering for you.” 

“I don’t intend to start any trouble. I just want to get through this year and go back home.” There was a bit of desperation in Sojiro’s voice. He clearly didn’t want to be here anymore than Futaba did. 

The café was quiet. There was an awkward tension in the air. Finally, Futaba spoke, “Well that’s good. Now that we’ve got that settled, let me show you to your room.” Futaba turned around and started heading to the back of the café. She gestured to Sojiro to follow her. 

Sojiro was confused, but followed her reluctantly. They went up the stairs in the back to the attic of the café. It was large and cluttered. Cardboard boxes full of random objects filled the room. Several large garbage bags were haphazardly scattered around the room. There was a thick layer of dust on nearly everything in the room. In the corner of the room was a small single mattress, held up by what looked like empty milk crates. Sojiro turned to look at Futaba. “What is this?” he asked. 

“This is where you’re staying. I don’t have enough room at my place. I usually just use this place for storage and to take naps if the store is slow, but you can sleep here while you’re staying.” For a second Sojiro thought she was joking, but the completely serious look on her face told Sojiro otherwise. 

“Are you serious?” Sojiro asked, trying to sound calm. This place was filthy. The bed wasn’t even really a bed. There was also the fact that it was the attic of a coffee house. “You didn’t say that I wouldn’t be staying at your house.” 

Futaba looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Her face lit up in shock as she realized. “Whoops. Guess I forgot to mention that.” she said with a sorry smile on her face. “But, it’s not that big of a deal. This place isn’t that much messier than my house. I’m going to move all the important stuff from here back to my house to give you some space. You’re going to have to clean up the rest though.” 

“Why do I have to clean it? Couldn’t you have cleaned it before I got here? We worked this out like a month ago.” 

Futaba looked at him and shrugged. “Yeah, I meant to get around to it, but I never felt like doing it, then you got here. Well, it’s your problem now I guess. Sorry.” Sojiro was pretty sure she was not sorry. 

 

Sojiro had spent what felt like hours cleaning up the attic that was to be his home for the next year. Futaba had been coming in and out while he cleaned, taking more and more boxes with her. Sojiro thought it was strange that she didn’t have enough space to keep him at her house, but she apparently had enough space to keep all this junk there. After taking out all the garbage, moping the floor, and attempting to tackle the first layer of dust on everything, Sojiro could start to see an actual room in there. 

Futaba had called Sojiro downstairs. As soon as he entered the ground floor, Sojiro could see that it was dark out. He really had been cleaning for hours. “Take a seat. Dinner’s ready.” She gestured to the stool at the counter in front of her. There was a plate of curry on the counter, along with a cup of...coffee? 

“Curry and... coffee?” Sojiro said questionably. 

“Yeah,” Futaba said with a shrug. “It’s this place’s specialty. I know it’s kind of weird, but try it.” She waved her hand towards the meal, gesturing Sojiro to eat. 

To his surprise, it was quite good. He didn’t expect the two to go together, but it was quite a good meal. “Thanks.” Sojiro said. 

“No problem. It’s time for me to close the store. I’m heading home. I’m locking the store ok. I don’t want you leaving in the middle of the night. And don’t try to steal anything. I know everything in the store.” Futaba gave Sojiro a serious glare, that was not entirely as scary as Sojiro thought she meant it to be. 

Sojiro didn’t like that Futaba thought she had to tell him not to steal from her. It was their first day together and she already thought poorly of him. Ever since he had been charged with assault, everyone looked at him like he was going to attack them at any moment. “Relax. I’m not going to take anything.” 

“Alright. Well, goodnight.” Futaba headed to the door. She flipped the sign so that it now read ‘closed’ to anyone outside. She opened the door, setting off the bell, and was half-way through the doorway before turning back in place to face Sojiro. “By the way, the wi-fi password is 0r4c13.” With that she closed the door behind her, locking the door, and heading off. 

Sojiro was tired from the trip, and tired again from spending the whole day cleaning. He headed to the front of the store and turned off the lights. He headed back upstairs. He turned the light off as he entered the attic and felt his way to the bed in the corner. The bed was the only thing in the attic that was not entirely covered in dust. Sojiro figured it had been used pretty regularly, as Futaba said she used it for naps. After quickly changing into some more comfortable clothes, he threw himself into the bed. This was not a good decision. Sojiro felt himself hit something hard as he landed on the mattress. He forgot about the crates underneath it. It wasn’t so bad after lying on it for a minute, but he definitely wasn’t going to be throwing himself on it anymore. Throwing the blanket over himself, Sojiro stared at the ceiling before falling asleep. If this was an indication of how the year was going to go, Sojiro was in for a long year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wasn't sure if I was even going to keep writing this. The artist who's drawings this story is based off of is really taking his time to flesh out the ideas. I already accepted that any ideas I had might be very different from his, so I didn't mind writing about things he hadn't covered. The one thing I wanted to make sure was the same was the Phantom Thieves though. I want them to be the same as they are in his AU. I don't mind if the secondary characters are different, but I want the main characters to be the same. He said he's going to show off Sojiro last, however, so I didn't want to write too much and have to just wait for him to show off Sojiro's persona. Then, he said he was going to do a comic to show off the AU, after that I wasn't really sure if I still felt like writing this. But, I have a lot of fun writing these, and a few people have shown interest in the piece going forward, so I decided to keep going anyway. It's just going to have to be a while before Sojiro actually awakens his persona, but I don't think it will be that big of an issue. Hope people like where the story goes.


	3. The Velvet Room

Sojiro awoke in a haze. Today he was supposed to go to his new school and meet with the faculty. Sojiro hesitated at first, he was still getting used to this new life he was forced into. He didn’t like the idea of presenting himself to a new school, it made him feel like some animal at the zoo. Sojiro relented, there was no getting around it, it was just something he was going to have to do. He went to grab the blanket and throw it off of him, but it wasn’t there. 

Sojiro looked down to see the blanket, but something was off. His eyes had begun to adjust after waking. He was not in his room in the café, he didn’t know where he was. The loose clothes he had been wearing as pajamas the night before were gone, instead they were replaced with a black and white striped shirt and pants. Sojiro tried to get out of the bed, but felt his foot hit against something. There was a heavy ball attached to his leg by a chain. He looked around, looking for some indication of where he was. His eyes fell on the bars in front of him. The sudden realization dawn on him. He was in a jail cell. 

How did he get here? Had the police changed their minds and decide to throw him in prison anyway? But, then how did they get him here without him waking up? Sojiro looked through the bars and saw a figure sitting behind a desk in front of him, but couldn’t quite make out the figure. Sojiro walked up to the bars, dragging the ball and chain behind him. He placed his hands on the bars and began to call out to the figure. 

Before the words could leave his mouth, he felt a sharp pain hit his hand. “Stand back prisoner!” shouted a figure on his left. 

“Please refrain from touching the bars from now on” said a second figure on his right in a calm voice. 

The two figures were women wearing a blue and black uniform. They both wore hats on top of their platinum blond hair. The one on the left wore her hair in two buns on each side of her head. The other, on the right, wore a long-braided ponytail. 

Sojiro pulled his hand back and began rubbing it to ease the pain. “Ow! The hell...” 

The woman on the left struck the bars again with some kind of rod. “Quiet down inmate! Our master is about to speak.” 

Sojiro looked forward at the figure behind the desk. He wore a black suit. He had long, gangly arms, pointed ears, bloodshot eyes, and a very long nose. “Welcome Trickster, to my Velvet Room.” 

“Velvet Room?” replied Sojiro, who was utterly confused. 

“This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a “contract” may enter. I am Igor, the master of the Velvet Room. From this point on, you are our prisoner while you complete your rehabilitation.” 

A thousand questions ran through Sojiro’s head. Velvet Room? Rehabilitation? “I don’t get it. Why am I here? How did I get here?” 

“All in due time” Igor said, waving his hand dismissively. “At the moment, you have yet to awaken to your potential. Until then do not concern yourself too much. Now it is time you returned to your reality. Until we meet again.” 

Sojiro shot up. He was in a cold sweat. He looked around, he was in LeBlanc, back in his bed. Sojiro was breathing heavy, but began to relax after realizing what had happened. “Ugh. What a weird dream.” Sojiro grabbed his glasses off the windowsill next to his bed. He checked his phone. It was 7:23 a.m. Futaba said they were going to go to Sojiro’s new school today at 8:30. He decided he should get up. He didn’t want to be late. Before Sojiro got out of bed he noticed something strange. There was an app on his phone he didn’t recognize. It looked like a red eye with a star in the center. Did he download something and forget? He held down on the app and dragged it to the trashcan and deleted it. Hopefully it wasn’t some virus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for the velvet room. This is only an introduction, so we don't really see it as much. Physically it's the same look as in the original game. In scruffyturtle's au, the twins' personalities are switched. Caroline is the more soft spoken one and Justine is the abrasive one. I didn't think it really added anything so I decided to leave their personalities the same. Scruffy hasn't actually shown Igor in the au yet, I'm sure he has some crazy idea for him. I decided I wanted Igor to be the only character in the story who is exactly the same as he is in the original. He is this weird and crazy character. He feels like this otherworldly person who is removed from reality, which he basically is. I just thought it would be weird and creepy if he's the only one still normal. Plus I don't know who else would run the Velvet Room if not Igor. I mean I have ideas, that are probably what scruffy is thinking, but I like weirdly normal Igor more.


End file.
